Advertising apparatus



SePt- 24, 11929 F. D. couRTt-:NAY 1,729,417

ADVERTISING APPARATUS Filed July 11. 1928 Figi-diria Cw.

ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 24, 1929 UhllTiEl Mig? i ....'lllilidl @FFICE FREDERC D. COURTENAY, OF EAST GRANGE, hl'llli JERSEY, ASSEGNGR T0 EMBOSO- NEW YORK Y., .A CORPORATION OF ADVERTESNG .APPARATUS Application filed July 11 1928.

ln stores it has been the custom to advertise the sale of merchandise, such as wearing apparel 'for example, by means ot an advertising card mounted in a raclr supported by a pedestal and usually placed upon a counter or within a show window. `Such acard irequently bears a legend indicating the time at which the sale occurs, another legend indicating the article of merchandise on sale and io a third legend relating` to the price of the article. llVhcnever a change is made in theday or month of the sale, in the article on sale, or in the price, the entire card is usually thrown away, as it is unlikely that the precise Combination of advertising matter thereon will ever be needed again. ln large department stores the scrapping and replacement ci s'uch cards often entails an expense ot thousands of dollars annually. To reduce this expense, so cheap cards are sometimes used. rlhis policy is unwise, however, as such cards are unattractive and mar the appearance of the store. A sign in particular iavor with high class establishments is a stout card having an attractive surface and bearing` embossed legends Such cards are cleancut and ornamental, but

their greater cost and the necessity of scrapping large quantities of them renders their use very expensive to a large establishment.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide means whereby the difierent legends of a sign.. oif the character ahove stated, may be separately removed from the body of the signand replaced by other legends in accorda-nce with changesin the advertising requirements, so that the scrapping of the sign may be avoided and so that the individual legends may be preserved and used repeatedly in diiierent sign assemblies.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. Y

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a face view of my improved sign card rack bearing one assembly of legend cards;

Fig. 2 a similar view of the upper portion of the rack with certain of the cards removed and replaced by cards bearing different legends;

Serial No. 291,986.

Fig. 3 a side edge view of the upper portion of the rack;

Fig. l altace view, upon a larger scale, of the card-holding iframe prior to attachment to its supporting means;

Fig. 5 a vertical section, upon a still larger scale taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 a horizontal section taken on the line 6 6 ot' Fig, 4l; and

F ig. i' a` miniature view o1a three sets of legend cards for mounting successively in the trame.

The sign rack includes a card-holding frame l. This Yframe comprises two face members2,both ofthe same shape and size and disposed parallel with each other and in register. Each member is formed of sheet metal cut or stamped into an open structure slightly arched in contour at the top, straight at the bottom and converging` downward slightly at the sides. An inwardly turned contour flange 3 is integrally formed upon each member and extends continuously along the top, along` one side, and along the bottom oit the member. lt is omitted, however from the opposite side. Each member is also formed with three face openings e, "5 and 6. These openings are horizontally elongated and located one above the other. They extend over most of the face area within the contour, leaving only a contour margin 7 and two narrow horizontal ribs 8 separating them. Around the margins of the openings the sheet metal is turned inwardly as at 9 to produce a beveled eiiect and to closely engage the cards which are to be mounted within the frame.

Between the tace members 2 are two sheet metal channel members l() disposed horizontally directly betweenI the opposed ribs 8. These channel members are inverted with respect to their cross section. Within the lower end ci the frame 'l is another sheet metal channel member 1l. rEhis member bottoms directly against the flanges 3 and its sides bear against the inner sides of the frame margins. The channel members l0 and l1 extend almost the 1"'ull width of the frame. Within the upper end of the frame are three inverted U-shaped clips 12 spaced along the width of the frame and in contact with the inner sides of the margins 'd' and the langes 3. The channel members l() and 11 and the clips 12 are secured to the vtrame members 2 by spot welding as indicated at 18. rlhey serve to hold said 'trame members in spaced relation, with the edges ot the `flanges 3 opposed, and their width slightly greater than the combined normal width of the opposed 'flanges so that it there are any slight irregularities in the edges of' the latter they will not interfere with the assembling oit the frame parts. The channel members 10 also divide the space between the 'trame members 2 into three horizontally elongated card-receiving pockets and form the bottoms thereof. These pockets open outwardly at one end through the untlanged side of the frame. At the opposite sid-e o't the trame they are closed by the ianges 3.

A threaded socket member lll is mounted upon the lower end of the trame 1. This member is formed with a 'fork which straddles the iframe midway the width ot the lat ter and is secured thereto by spot welding. A standard 15, provided with screw threads at its ends, has its upper end screwed into the socket member and its lower end screwed into a base 16. The frame l, with its pedestal formed by the standard and base, forms a portable card rack for standing upon a counter or within a show window.

A plurality of advertisingcards are provided for mounting within the pockets of the trame 1. In the present instance there are three series of cards. ln one series each card 17 bears a legend indicating the time at which a sale is to occur. It may, for example, indicate the day ott the week, the month, the season, or may bear a legend such as Annual or Semiannual. The cards of this first series may also bear the name of the store. The cards 18 ot the second series bear legends indicating diilerent articles oit' merchandise upon different cards. The cards or the third series bear different legends relating` to the price of the merchandise. rlhis may be eX- pressed in several ways, by dollars and cents, or by indicating' the percentage of reduction. 'from the original price. ll preferably employ cards whose legends are stamped thereon by an embossing process. This process consists in superposing a sheet ot thin material upon the face et the card and making impressions with sharp-edged type which cut out the characters from the superposed sheet and secure them to the card by pressure around their edges. Such cards are neat, clean-cut and attractive. Other types ot' cards, may, however, be employed.

Each card 17 ot the first series, bearing a time legend, is of a suitable form 'for mounting within the uppermost pocket of the traine l with its legend exposed through the opening 4 of one oi. the frame members 2. Each card 18 of the second series, bearing a merchandise legend, is of a form to mount in the middle pocket oit the :trame with its legend exposed through one ot' the openings 5. Similarly each card 19 of the third series, bearing a price-indicating legend, is formed 'for mounting in the lowermost 'trame pocket with its legend exposed 'through one of the openings 6. Preferably each card of each series has a duplicate with the same legend, and the two are mounted in a pocket together, back to bach, with their legends exposed through the tace openings et bot-h frame members 2. In Fig. l two cards are shown so mounted in the uppermost pocket. The cards are all inserted and removed through the unilanged side of the frame. l/Vhen inserted their marginal edges are covered by the frame margin 7 and by the ribs 8. Their exposed areas are neatly framed by the inturned bevel edges 9 of the trame.

l/V hen any one of the three sale conditions expressed by the advertising legends changes. the legend card relating thereto is removed and replaced by another card ot the same series bearing an appropriate legend. For illustration, the top and bottom cards shown in F ig. 1, relating to the day of the sale and the price of the merchandise respectively, have in F ig. 2, been replaced by other cards of the' respective series bearing different day and price legends. rthe card indicating the merchandise has not been disturbed. However this card may be removed and replaced by another card oit' its series when required. The cards of each series are interchangeable and when a card is removed 'from the traine it is preserved for future use. By the provision of a suitable number of cards in each series a great variety ot advertising set-ups can be had without the necessity ont buying a new card each time the advertisement is changed. In Fig. 7, to reduce the illustration l have shown only a i'ew cards in each series. Each series, however may be extended to include as many cards as the establishment requires. Also the number of series may be varied and the frame formed accordingly with a greater or less number of cardreceiving pockets.

lWhile I have shown and described a practical and desirable form of my invention l do not wish to be limited strictly to this disclosure but reserve the right to make such changes as will lie within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

l. A display card rack comprising a pair ot spaced, parallel face members each formed of a single sheet of metal and both oit the same contour, disposed in register with each other in upright planes, integrally termed with inturned opposed contour flanges eX- tending continuously along and. substantially closing the top, bottom and one side of the frame but omitted at the opposite side, each face member being formed at its face to provide a slender outer margin extending entirely around the contour and with a plurality of slender horizontal Cross strips, vertically spaced, dividing the space surrounded by paid margin Aand defining with the latter a plurality oi' horizontally elongated iace openings, the tace openings in each member regisl tering with the openings in the companion member and eaoh member being turned inward along said margin and along said cross strips to produce a beveled effect around each opening; a plurality of sheet metal channel members horizontally disposed between the face members in positions between said cross strips of the two members, rigidly secured at their opposite channel sides to said strips and dividing the space between the frame members into a plurality ot horizontally elongated Card-receiving pockets opening endwise through said unlanged side of the contour to permit the insertion and removal of the cards; and means to support the frame upright.

2. A display card rack comprising a frame formed of a pair of spaced, parallel face members each formed oit' a single sheet of metal and both of the same contour, disposed in register with each other in upright planes, integrally Jformed with inturned opposed contour flanges extending continuously along and substantially closing the top, bottom and one side of the frame but omitted at the opposite side; a plurality of sheet metal channel members horizontally disposed between said face members, spaced apart vertically, secured attheir sides to the face members and dividing the space between the face members into a plurality of horizontally elongated card-receiving pockets opening endwise through said unflanged side of the contour to permit the insertion and removal of the cards, each face member being forme-d with a plurality of face openings to reveal advertising matter upon the inserted cards and the marginal edges of the face members being turned inward around said openings to produce a beveled effect; and a pedestal to support the frame upright.

In testimony whereof I hereunto my signature.

FREDERIC D. COURTENAY. 

